Book Review: Green Goes With Everything – Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet by Sloan Barnett

Up until a couple of years ago I was pretty green about being green. Green was just a color, one that you wear on Saint Patrick’s Day! The change for me came as a result of being asked to do some TV previews for the Sundance Channel of their excellent series Big Ideas For A Small Planet. So intrigued was I that I interviewed many of the people featured in this series. Green is in! It really does not matter what area of consumer products, services, or manufacturing you are looking at, there are generally speaking green alternatives.

Green is good, green is the way forward, green means sustainability, and quality of life.

Author Sloan Barnett has taken being green to new levels. essentially Green Goes With Everything is a guide for the average person as to how us regular Joe’s and Jane’s can not only improve the planet, but also their own lives. We take so much for granted in our modern world. Clean, so we are told smells of Lilac or Mountain air scented with lemon. It does not! Clean doesn’t smell of anything. Clean by definition, is just that, there are no additives, merely the absence of ‘stuff’. What about that lemon fragrance? Well chances are that no lemons were hurt in the manufacturing process, the lemon smell comes from a formidable chemical soup concocted in a laboratory.

One of my favorite quotes from the book is where Sloan Barnett is giving us her simple advice about buying food. She advocates reading the ingredient list and applying the following easy to remember test:

If I can’t pronounce it. I don’t buy it
If it has more than four syllables. I don’t buy it
If it has a number somewhere in its name. I don’t buy it

This advice makes perfect sense to me.

I have to admit that I am not as green as Sloan Barnett, I buy and use all sorts of iffy products, but when possible I do try to go green. One misnomer people have about going green is that it is going to cost you more. That is not the case. Green does not have to be more expensive, it is just like any other product you might purchase. You need to shop around for the best deal.

I have to admit that I love food. Food is an art form in my mind. And even though I do not have the taste buds of an expert, I know what tastes good, and that generally speaking are food products that are natural and without the addition of chemicals. A great example is the lowly tomato. We take it for granted, it is on our burger, it is in our salad, it is in our sauces and stews, and generally it has no flavor what so ever. Next spring plant some tomato seeds in a large pot, and 90 days later you will have a few pounds of the best tasting tomatoes you have ever experienced.

I found Green Goes With Everything to be an interesting read, maybe it is not a book that you would read cover to cover, it is more a handy reference guide. Although the author has a clear favorite in her brand choice (her husband works for the company), she does at least offer alternatives at the end of each section.

Green is the new hot color. Don’t leave home without it, in fact take green home with you. Many people say things like “what difference can I make, I am just one person”? Well, the simple answer is that one person can make a difference. Green does not mean living like a hermit, and eating leaves and berries, green just means making better choices. Those wise choices will make a big difference to the quality of life for our grand children, and their grand children.

You can pick up your copy of Green Goes With Everything from Amazon.

(Originally published at Blogger News Network and reprinted with permission from the author, Simon Barrett).